They won’t have Phil Remington to help them, but the crew at Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers has nevertheless signed on to preserve a rather significant car in company founder Dan Gurney’s racing career, the Ford Mk IV that he co-drove to win Le Mans in 1967.

Though it was a Ford product – a GT40 Mk II – that won Le Mans the year prior, it stuck in Henry Ford II’s craw that it was in part designed and built overseas and that the winning drivers, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, weren’t Americans. Some in the racing world also murmured that Ford didn’t necessarily win that race, everybody else just lost. So The Deuce declared that he wanted an entirely American-designed, American-built, and American-driven car to win the race in 1967. Detroit-based Kar Kraft actually began its work on the Mk II’s successor, the so-called J-car, later known as the Mk IV (and apparently never referred to at the time as a GT40), earlier in 1966, using a bonded-aluminum honeycomb-sandwich chassis and fiberglass panels. Though its development was marred by a number of setbacks, including the death of Ken Miles during testing, the J-car did win its first outing at Sebring in April 1967, setting the stage for that year’s Le Mans.

Of the 12 total GT40s entered in the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, four were Mk IVs, with two each entered by Shelby American and Holman and Moody. While some accounts describe a fierce battle between Ford and Ferrari, it was really not much of a contest. One of the Shelby American entries, chassis number J-5, powered by a 540hp 427-cu.in. V-8 and piloted by Gurney and A.J. Foyt, took the lead an hour and a half into the race and maintained it until the end, hitting 220 MPH on the Mulsanne Straight and finishing a full four laps ahead of the second-place Ferrari 330 P4. Not only did J-5 win first overall and first in class, it also won the Index of Thermal Efficiency. To celebrate his win, Gurney sprayed the crowd gathered around the podium with his magnum of Moët et Chandon, starting a tradition that continues today.

According to the World Registry of Cobras and GT40s, J-5 made its way back to Shelby American after the race. Though The Henry Ford maintains that J-5 hasn’t been started or been separated from its engine since the race, the World Registry noted that Shelby pulled the 427 and ran it on a dyno to discover that the run time at Le Mans had served as an extended breaking-in period and freed up an additional five horsepower. Shelby also apparently repainted J-5 for display at an auto show that fall, then handed it back to Ford, which in turn donated it to the Henry Ford Museum in July 1972. Some debate has popped up over the years regarding the Mk IV’s original chassis number – its serial number plate went missing years ago and some say it’s actually J-6 rather than J-5 – but of the four “production” Mk IVs built (and another two spares), only the Le Mans-winning car featured the dropped chassis section under the driver’s seat and the Gurney bubble, both included to accommodate Dan Gurney’s six-foot, four-inch height.

The Henry Ford Museum noted in its press release announcing the preservation effort that J-5 had recently “sustained some minor damage” while in transport. The New York Times elaborated that it had suffered broken engine mounts and damaged body panels during a tour of Europe last year to commemorate the 45th anniversary of its Le Mans win, possibly from somebody dropping the car, and that All-American Racers would repair those damages while leaving untouched the stress cracks induced by the race crew riding on the car’s fenders after the win.

“I don’t think we could have found a better person or better organization to conserve this very special race car,” said Christian Overland, executive vice-president, The Henry Ford, in the press release announcing the preservation effort. “Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt made this Mark IV famous with their win at Le Mans, and to have Dan, his son Justin, and their employees take on the job of conserving it for future generations seems so right. There is no doubt in our mind they will take the upmost care in this job because of what this car meant to their family’s history.”

The Mk IV is part of The Henry Ford’s Racing in America collection, an exhibit focused on “the tradition of innovation in American auto racing.” For more information, visit RacinginAmerica.com.

Gurney’s guys are the best and will do a great job, but before even ONE bolt is removed from this car, each member of the preservation team should read Fred Simone’s fantastic book, The Stewardship of Historically Significant Race Cars. I’ve been reading motor books for over 40 years and it’s the best book yet on the historic value of race cars, as they are, preserved, not restored. It’s not about being a race mechanic, more like being a fine art or antique furniture conservator. As they say, it’s only original once. I look forward to seeing this car when it all cleaned up, but not TOO cleaned up!

The rap on that book (which I have not read, and therefore cannot comment about yea or nay) is that it is about pure preservation, rather than utilization. In other words, the book finds use at events (such as vintage racing) abhorrent, much like the Smithsonian is repulsed by WW2 warbird fly-ins. Some folks want to keep these “artifacts” static. Others believe – they being kinetic creations – that they are properly displayed while in “used in context”. A Van Gogh was *made* to hang on a wall. Was a Porsche 908, a Capri RS2600, or a Ferrari 250LM? Let the food fight commence…

Dr. Simeone does drive his cars for everyone to hear, see, smell and enjoy just at a more subdued rate of speed hopefully preserving the cars for future generations. After all they may of been built to be raced but they were built to be raced by the absolute best drivers in the world and not somebody with more money then talent. it does nobody any good if somebody punts a GTO, Daytona, 8C or there like into a retaining wall…(well maybe the repair shop)

The “Doc” keeps all his cars in running shape (Check out Demonstrations Days). He may not race them, but, he drives them, gets the fluids and tires warmed up and loves those cars as if they were his children. I admire him.

Beautiful car and beautiful story. We had some magnificent racing going on back in the 1960s and, frankly, I miss it. Although I was headed for the jungles of Viet Nam at the time, I remember struggling to listen to scratchy radio reports of this race.

But to this day, my one question has never been answered: why was this car painted RED? It was not an American racing color. It was not a Ford racing color. It was not an AAR racing color. It was not a typical GT-40 color. So? How did it this American Ford racing car, piloted by American drivers, made of American parts, built to defeat Italy’s most famous racing brand end up being painted Italian Racing Red? Hmmmmm?

The Ford factory teams, Shelby-American and Holman-Moody began painting the Ford GTs in rainbow colors beginning at Sebring in 1966. The winning Mark II was red, Gurney’s Mark ii was navy blue, one of the H-M cars was gold. The colors continued at Le Mans in 1966 (Gurney’s was red then too), then through the 1967 season. The Mark IV debuted with a win at Sebring in yellow. At Le Mans the S-A Mark IVs were red (the winner) and yellow (4th place).

1. Who vets the World Registry info? This should be verifiable from people that worked there, records, etc., etc.
2. If this car was repainted by Shelby, there should be records, invoices, recollections by people there or at Ford or Shelby. A visual inspection would also reveal fresher paint or original Le Mans grime that would support things either way.

These are the right people & are doing the right thing by this car. I just hope the Ford doesn’t take out more cars to make room to display it.

The MK IV was part of the Racing In America display before it was shipped to England. I was at the museum within the last month to shoot photos of some cars in the display, Henry Ford’s 999 racer, the Miller Ford V8 FWD indy car, and Jim Clark’s Indy winning Lotus. I just checked the photos and it appears that the MK IV’s space next to Ohio George’s Willys Gasser is empty.

I’m pretty sure that since they redid the car display and opened Driving America along with the Racing In America display that there are more cars on display at the Henry Ford Museum than ever before.

I was just at the HF, and was shocked. Since the last time I was there 2 years ago, it appears that dozens of cars, and a bunch of planes and even some trains have been removed. The aisles are 75 – 100 feet wide, and it looks like the Readers Digest version of the museum as I remember it. Even the signage is minimal, and it caters to ADD viewers with lame touch screen 1 sentence impressions. NOT an improvement! Even the Sweepstakes car verbiage is incorrect.

I remember seeing this car at Galpin Ford in Van Nuys, California sometime in 1968 or 1969. It looked pretty much as raced. I think maybe there were no barriers around the car, possibly a rope. People were walking up and touching it. Don’t imagine that will happen again. Of course in those days it was considered just last years worn out race car. It takes time for history to come into focus.

A friend and I stood around looking at the car for about half an hour on a Saturday afternoon. In that time only maybe 10 or 15 others came by to check it out. Which I had thought to ask if we could sit in it.

I saw a Shelby interview where he said one of the biggest reasons for their victories was the combination of H.Moody and Phil Remmington devised a way to change both the brake pads and rotors in a matter of minutes during a pit stop allowing them to power down the straights longer while everyone else had to ease up to save their brakes. A huge advantage. American ingenuity at its finest. Shelby really knew how to bring the best together to form a team.

220 mph down the Mulsanne, that’s good today, and it certainly took some, eh… ‘attachments’ back in the day. It is amazing what can be accomplished by one man with a lot of money and a grudge. I guess in a way we have Enzo Ferrari’s machiavellian manuvering to thank for all of this.

Dan Gurney wrote a very good article for Road & Track describing how they planned for, and ran this race. Not sure which issue it’s from but I did cut & save the article. The Shelby cars were red, and the Holman Moody ones were yellow ??

I saw this car at the Henry Ford in the late 80′s and recall it looking rather well used with age cracked tires. I can totally believe it was never driven again, becuase those cars were built for a very specific purpose.

I grew in Detroit during the sixties and seventies when the passion and pride of the US auto industry was to build products that Win!!! On the Worlds race tracks, on the drag strips, and on Woodward Ave. I for one loved every minute, it was Americana! Hat’s off to Dan Gurney’s family and Ford for restoring a piece of the American spirit! Thank’s to the Duce for pushing America’s best to dominate their best!!! Thanks to the Shelby’s, Gurney’s, Floyd’s, Andretti’s and many more for their guts to drive the wheels off these Amercan flyers, what a fantastic time in America, I miss it!

I live a couple hours from the Henry Ford, and this car has been in there since I was a kid. That’s too bad it was damaged…It’s just a special car; it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up just being around it.

A late answer for the questions on Ford’s colors at Le Mans.
I asked the question early 1967 ….it seems that the wife’s of Ford’s Executives, discussed the choices of colors at a dinner ….and each one decided their preferences.
I was one of the mechanic in charge of the winning car, Gurney-Foyt at Le Mans in 1967.
Take care. Phil Henny.